No Better Time

Family! There is no better time to be a missionary than right now. Let me tell you. We had a mission conference this morning where we talked about a Gladys Knight performance that is coming up in a couple of weeks and we can't wait! Word on the street is the spirit is incredibly strong as she sings and she incorporates her testimony of the church and the Restoration of the gospel into the program. There have been so many inspiring stories of people that have gone and requested missionaries as soon as they left and were baptized within the month. The more I have learned about her the more admiration I have had for her and how she uses her talent to bring others to Christ. She has such a fire about her and I am so excited to bring investigators and nonmembers to listen to her. 

This week we have been all about the service and I have seen so many blessings from it. We have been walking our investigators dogs which turns out to not be the funnest chore on earth but it allows us to serve them and also talk to people on the street as we do it. I had a little foofy dog though that decided to quit walking halfway through so i got to carry her. We took pictures but this computer won't let me download them so I'll have to find a converter and hopefully send some pictures your way soon! 

Susan (the girl in Paradise) had such a great baptism last week! Our investigator Yamilet came and it was such a good experience and oh boy was the spirit strong! It was fun to see people from the ward again too. We met this amazing family this weekend- so humble and SO friendly! They have 17 animals- something I am definitely not used to, but it makes for a fun house. Their newest edition is a couple of baby chicks which reminded me home and when Carson put all the chicks in the pockets of the pool table. Haha. But we taught them a quick lesson about the Book of Mormon and I guess they liked it so much they invited us back for BBQ this weekend! 

Thank you so much for your prayers on my behalf. I know there is such a power in prayer and I am so blessed to have so many  coming my way! I love my Savior and have such a testimony that this is Christ's church restored to the earth and it is the ONLY way to find true joy. 

LOVE YOU!!

Sister Stoker

October 14, 2013

Family!

What a week it has been! This week has been a complete turn around from last- i'm not quite sure what changed but we have seen tons of miracles. And miracle #1 is that Sister Remund and I will be staying in Palo Verde ward for another transfer! That will make 4 1/2 months as a companionship. Thank goodness I love her. Miracle #2 is that I have successfully been a missionary for 6 months now! How crazy is that. I feel like it has only been 2 months since my first day at the MTC and yet I feel like I am a completely different person. It's crazy how the mission does that to you. Oh and miracle #3 is that a girl I taught in Paradise is getting baptized this weekend! She asked me to sing the musical number so we have a good excuse to go!

We met this fantastic lady named Barbara this week who has already adopted us as her grandkids- as she tells us everyday. We did some yardwork for her because she can't pull the weeds herself and she just broke down in tears. We said a prayer with her yesterday and she chimed in at the end of the prayer and just started crying as she told God thank you for sending us as an answer to her prayer that day. She is such a sweet lady and we are so excited to be able to teach her.

We had such a great day yesterday- 3 of our investigators made it to church! Fast and testimony meeting was a little nerve-racking though. A sweet sweet lady in the ward stood up and confessed all of her gambling problems and issues with the word of wisdom that have been keeping her from the temple then told the congregation that satan is almost more powerful than God. It is times like that when you have to rely on the spirit to not carry messages like that into the hearts of those that we brought. Haha. But the rest of the meeting was great. Jasmine is due to have her baby next week so we will have to wait to hold her baptism for a while because the emotions of a baptism could most likely put anyone into labor.

I gave my first training in District Meeting last week! I loved being able to do that. As I was studying for it, I realized the divine importance of Self-Mastery in our life. It is something I have been thinking about a lot since Elder Russel M. Nelson's talk on the body. Being on a mission has helped me realize the importance of giving up our worldly appetites and pleasures for that of a spiritual nature- and when we do it willingly we experience all kinds of crazy joy! That is what I have found. A lot of what we teach people is about giving up things of this world/ our old lives for something so much better and there truly is power behind testimonies and commitments when we have experienced it ourselves.

Las Vegas is finally cooling down and it is such a blessing! We have been wearing cardigans which is unheard of- it is like 50 degrees when we go running in the morning. Thank you for all the prayers and emails! I sure do love you all.

Sister Stoker

Conference

October 7, 2013

What a great weekend! We loved watching conference- it was different watching it in the Stake Center as opposed to on the couch in my PJs, but it definitely helped me stay awake. There were so many answers to my prayers within those talks I loved them so much! I loved Elder Bednar's talk on Tithing- I loved the way he described the blessings from tithing. Elder Holland's was fantastic as well...as always. It helped me gain a better perspective on how to help those we teach/ come in contact with with mental challenges- no matter how subtle they may seem. I also really liked President Uchtdorf's talk. I loved when he said to doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. I have used that a lot already in addressing concerns.

We had an amazing experience with our investigator Yamilet this week. She is a pretty quiet girl but on Wednesday she was all bubbly! She told us how excited she was to read the Book of Mormon and is still taking time out of her lunch breaks to read the Book of Mormon. After the lesson she told us that she was reading her Book of Mormon at 6:00 one morning (What??) and she recieved the most distinct answer to her prayers that it was true! She was pretty nervous about her baptism on November 9th last week, but she told us that she is ready now. She has already announced to her friends and family she is becoming Mormon and she has such a light about her! I love the power of the Book of Mormon in conversion!!

Thank you for all the prayers and support! I love you all!!

Membersionaries

September 30th, 2013

Family!!

Thank you so much for the prayers and fast. Believe it or not I have been headache free for 3 days now which is a world record. I KNOW that is because God answers a loving family's prayers. All of these engagements are crazy!! Give Chelsea and Camille a huge hug for me when you see them- this is all so exciting!

Yesterday was such a blessing. Our mission president and his wife spoke to the ward for the 5th Sunday (3rd hour) all about member missionary work. He encouraged the members to come to lessons with us so that our investigators could see what normal people are like. Then he had Sister Remund and I stand up and pointed out that we are not normal. Only weirdos spend 24/7 dedicated to the Lord and His gospel. Haha. Thanks President. It was cool though because that night I got to see this member missionary work in action. The stake has a phenomenal mission prep class (they call it PMG) for youth ages 16-19. Each week they focus on a fundamental from Preach My Gospel and practice teaching each other afterwards. When us missionaries don't have any set appointments on Sunday nights, we go and help them improve their teaching skills and role play with them as investigators. Well one of the youth brought her friend Chris last week who isn't a member and didn't know much about the church. I am sure he was a little shocked during the class as they talked about tactics to get people to listen, but apparently he felt the spirit. Two of his friends and I had the privilege of teaching him the first lesson that night and never again will I doubt the power of member missionary work. I had fun teaching him the doctrine of the lessons and helping explain what we believe, but as his friends shared their simple testimonies of what the gospel means to them, the spirit was incredible. These girls were just friends from school and had never really shared with him what they believe until that night and when they did, he listened because he already trusted them and had always been curious about what made them so happy. He told us he could really feel the spirit as we all discussed the atonement and the restoration of the gospel. This past week, he attended early morning seminary every single day and told one of the students that he wished it was 2 hours long. He read 5 chapters in the Book of Mormon and said he liked it because it made him feel good. When we met with him again yesterday, he said that this past week he couldn't stop smiling. His friends noticed a change in the way he carried himself and in the way he dressed. He used to wear all black but hasn't been lately. As we began to  teach him the restoration, he was grinning like the freaking Cheshire cat the entire time. When we started talking about Christ's atonement again, you could tell the spirit was hitting him like a brick wall. I gave his friend Lynsie the "you should invite him to be baptized right now" nod and helped her lead into it, but she took over and popped the question and he accepted! When he said yes they were all speechless and were probably replaying the conversation in their head to make sure they got it right, but as they testified of what their baptism meant to them and what it still means, i could tell that he really connected with them. OH MAN!! I just love all the member missionary work in the world!!!

What I have come to the conclusion of on my mission is that us missionaries, we really are weirdos. So many people think we are obligated to be out talking to people and/ or we are getting paid to do it and they don't have time to listen to us. But when a friend reaches out to another friend and invites them to an activity or fireside or something, there is a barrier that is already broken. And the awesome part is the members don't even have to know much about the gospel or teach the uncomfortable lessons like Word of Wisdom or Law of Chastity because us weirdos are trained to teach those! All the normal people have to do is invite them to an activity and we will ask them if they want to learn more. If they reject us, who cares? We get it all the time and most of the time it doesn't really phase us. Plus we are getting transferred so we will never see them again. That way it isn't the member trying to shove their beliefs down another person's throat. But if they say yes (often to the member's surprise), we will teach the doctrine if you testify. So that is what I want to invite you all to do. You don't have to sit your friends or neighbors down and teach them the first lesson in PMG but just invite them to an activity or dinner with the missionaries and let them do the inviting. Let us be the weirdos, you guys can keep being the normal ones.

I am currently obsessed with this member missionary stuff if you haven't noticed.

We also encountered a modern day troll on a bridge this week. That was fun. We met Mandy on the side of the road and she agreed to teach us ONLY if we answered her riddle. Here it goes:

What does God NEVER see,

Kings SELDOM see,

and we see ALL the time?

After much stupor of thought and self-induced headaches, Sister Remund and I sent out a mass-text to the missionaries in our zone (we figured as long as they were missionaries it wasn't cheating) and the Zone leaders got the answer! We went back 2 days later and taught her yesterday. What a blessing! I'll keep you updated on how she progresses. She said her dad had been asking missionaries that for years and we were the first ones to come back.

Also, that Relief Society broadcast blew my mind! I loved every second of it and realized how important it is to be keeping my covenants if I expect those I teach to prepare to make them. Oh and PS I'm not giving you the answer to the riddle until next week. STAY TUNED!

I don't know if I have talked about our investigator Yamilet yet but she is fantastic. She is another product of membersionary work (yes I made that word up, no I won't go on another tangent about how much I love it)- she is dating someone in the ward. But we set her for baptism this week! What a BLESSING! November 9th- mark your calendars.

LOVE YOU ALL!!

Sister Stoker